29Letters Blog مدونة ٢٩حرف

Hey Pascal, your blog is extremely interesting in every part of it. I was at this workshop with Mr. Haddad and I thought about the same issues. I like to compare the arabic calligraphy to the Bible writings done by monks in the 15th century. Today latin typefaces got completely out of the “stroke” feel for instance, or other handmade effects and became completely experimental due to the computer (like emigre fonts for instance). I think in arabic the same thing should happen. Instead of mimicking this calligraphic/traditional style in today’s arabic computer generated typefaces, designers should go more experimental and try new approaches not based on the hand and stroke of the calligrapher, which is unique and cannot be imitated 100% by a computer. That way the cut would be clear between computer typefaces and the calligraphic traditional style that is unfortunately losing its importance. But then again, the market’s demands is leading to the loss of the craftsmenship value. Maybe I’m being too pessimistic but I think with time this arabic craftsmenship will end up disappearing for practicality purposes.

Hi Pascal,

Send my best regards Samir Haddad. I would love to meet him. As you know, I admire real calligraphers – they are becoming a rare breed indeed. Get them involved in educating Arabic typographers now! – to complement the work of culturally alien design schools. That’s and urgent and valid business opportunity.

If I understand Maya Zankoul’s observation correctly, then she hit the nail on the head. The 15th century saw typography take over the monks’ work. By complete analogy, the main activity of calligraphers, i.e., copying Korans, was wiped out by the Azhar publication of a typeset edition in 1924 later followed by Medina edition, manually cloning that typeface. As a result, not a single “consumer’s” Koran is produced by calligraphers anymore. That’s what marginalized the craft of Islamic calligraphy, not the dwindling wedding invitations. What remained then was drawing newspaper headlines, As you pick up today’s newspaper, you see immediately that it was desk-top publishing that finished off calligraphy, without even pretending to mimick it.

Therefore to suggest that Tasmeem threatens the craft of calligraphy is not an accurate statement, to put it mildly. To the contrary, we hope that Tasmeem will contribute to the preservation of an important common cultural legacy that is getting far too little love in the world where it originated. While I take Samir Haddad’s remarks serious, I see them primarily as a compliment, and of course I do expect with him, that it will gain importance over time.

As for Maya’s casual use of the expression “computer-generated typefaces”, I would like to stress that no such a thing exists – with the possible exception of Tasmeem. The reason is that all the Western educated Arabic designers work with complete, ready-made letters, so there’s nothing left for computers to generate. Tasmeem works with the construction elements of fonts, and combinatory rules. Therefore, what Tasmeem builds out of these elements could be considered computer generated typefaces indeed.

Please note that the traditional scripts we analysed so far only served as proofs of concept. We are now working on computer-generated modern typefaces. We would love to work with people like yourselves to explore the possibilities in this field. As an extra bonus, the expertise of people like Samir Haddad would take on a whole new relevance.

Please take a look at this footage, I hope it will convince you that there’s an enormous design potential once the traditional structures are understood and technically supported:
http://www.decotype.com/movies/01-15-2007/100_4586.MOV (37Mb)

Looking forward,

t

Sounds good. Will you be in Brighton?

For Thomas:
Here are two contacts of Arabic Calligraphers whom I know.

Mr. Samir Haddad (Lebanese)
00961 3 317 076
00961 1 241 438

Samir Sayegh (Lebanese)
03 721 917

Halim Saker (Lebanese)
sakrco10@hotmail.com
03 285 871

Ms. Malak Atkeh (Serian)
malak.atkeh@sy.britishcouncil.org
0093 955 611 406
00963 933 263 193

And when I meet new Arabic Calligraphers I will post there contacts also.

For AzizMostafa

To answer your question:
3. Are the AC-Components same to that of Deco Naskh of PageMaker5.5ME?

This question confuses several matters.

1 .DecoType Professional Naskh is PageMaker was nu AC, but an attempt to improve AT (= Arabic Typography)
2. It was a gallant failure because PageMaker did not allow us to break away from the severe limitations imposed by the ooperating systems (OS) of the day.
3. Tasmeem allows us to bypass OS limitations;
4. Unlike DTP Naskh (DecoType Professional Naskh), Tasmeem Naskh is a completely different design using a small number of primitives and rules, and it is generated by ACE (Arabic Calligraphic Engine).
5. the name ACE is misleading, because ACE is notdesigned to generate calligraphy. It’s just a nice acromym.
6. Tasmeem hosts ACE, we have soon three script systems (intelligent fonts consisteng of primitives and rules) for it:
a. Naskh – the typical Ottoman text style
b. Emiri – a meticulous reconstruction of the metal typesetting used for the Caiiro Qur’ an
and soon
c. Ruqah – a completely new design based on the widespread Middle Eastern cursive.

Others will follow suit.

I hope that answers your question.

t

1. No, though it is technically feasible. ACE was the proof of concept and prototype for this kind of libraries. MicroSoft had already licensed two early ACE-derivaties (dtruqah.exe and dtnaskh.exe)before OpenType and all that was even contemplated.
2, ACE fonts use the OT font format for data and glyph storage, but they can not be controlled by usp*.dll and the likes.
3. No. ACE fonts can theoretically run anywhere, but that depends on the willingness and openness of the owners of the OS.
4. Tasmeem is a plug-in for IDME that calls ACE and provides a powerful user interface to make the enormous potential of Arabic script more accesible. As such, the ACE library and fonts can be built in anywhere.
5. Thanks for the flowers!

t

Q. “Is the distribution of text variations controlled by adding
Kashid, swashing, and/or changing interword spaces?”

Yes. In the TextShaper for each calligraphic parameter a distribution value can be set .

Q. “Tasmeem has a special tool for precision editing+typesetting? Vowels+dots can be adjusted independently from their letters.”

Yes. Changes can be made locally (WordShaper). Vowel and dot positions can be fine-tuned independently from the supporting letters.

Q. “Will the text remain fine-tuned if formatting changes?
Or fine-tuning has to be done repeatedly?”

If the formatting changes, the tuning values remain until they are reset or changed – even if a non-ACE font is applied on the text. In that case the tuning effects become neutralized, but they reappear with any ACE font. The same is true for the Kashida mark-up (as distinct from hard encoded Tasweel).

Q – “Kerning : Manual or automatic?”

As for spacing controls, not just the hard-encoded interword spaces can be tunes, but also the internal word spaces can be tuned. The effect can be compared with tracking. ACE doe not provide kerning. But by selecting any group of syntagms (connected lettergroups), pseudo-kerning is possible with the spacing controls.

Q – “How is the tracking (connection) managed? Randomly
as the bottom line of the last sample shows:
Different Kashidas applied to the very word (Ata3na)?”

To call the use of kashidas TRACKING is thought-provoking. We haven’t looked at it that way. In my analysis the kashida is the primarily the Arabic equivalent of the Latin hyphen: a device to repair the typographical damage caused by line breaking. But, like tracking, it can also be used to change the overall appearance of text. However, since Tasmeem offers real tracking for Arabic, we consider Kashida an additional, uniquely Arabic device for the same purpose: changing the overall appearance of text. Tasmeem offers a special Arabic Typography Interface to distrinbute kashide (or any other calligraphic parameter) over a text.

Unicode U+640 Tatweel will be processed, but it can also be converted to the Tasmeem-specific Arabic KASHIDA mark-up If converted, the hard Tatweel code is removed from the source text. Both hard (Tatweel) and soft (Kashida) elongations are processed selectively by Tasmeem: depending on the typeface they are executed or ignored (“trashide”) – without changing the source text.

Thanks for the interesting questions!

t

Thanks Thomas for the elaborated answer.
But I am still confused.
1… for each calligraphic parameter a distribution value can be set?!
But that will bring about unwanted AC if applied to a paragraph
or even to a single line of text?!
Of course unless you go word-by-word?!

2. Assuming Tasmeem is currently at what the Screenshot shows,
How if the size of the ACE-font is enlarged or reduced?
Will the corresponding tuning values change proportionally?

3. Is word spacing — spaces between words— automatic?
On the Paragraph level?
__________________
All the Best + Flowers

Thank you!
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Azizi Aziz,

In Tasmeem, vowels are placed dynamically, but can be corrected locally if necessary. In the referred examples I left the vowels in their automatically assumed positions. I have not attempted to move them afterwards, something that is certainly possible in Tasmeem.

Tasmeem has no fixed ark positions, instead it uses a concept of targets and approaching tactics.

I agree with you that the positioning in this example is not optimal for large display usage, but I challenge any font technology to improve on this construction – given the complexity of the letter connections. In my opinion the result is good enough for normal typesetting purposes.

wa s-salaamu l-qalbii,

t

Laa skukra yaa Habiibii

We are working hard to make this technology accessible for designers like yourself. Please bear with us.

alf ward wa warda

Sorry to tell Thomas that even if I could download the Beta version of Tasmeem, I wont be able to contribute to its developement since none of these is affordable to me:
1. A powerful PC. I am still using PII with 128 RAM.
2. IndesignCS3.0ME
3. Tasmeem BetaTest.
Apologies+Thanks with Flowers

plz post a new link for download of “tasmeem” preferably and ftp account for testing and better comments.Thanks in advance

Hello to all contributors,
this discussion is very interesting. I actually become a media-designer (a new profession mixed of typesetter and web-designer) and am interested in the different development of both calligraphy and typography in the european region. I hope, arabic calligraphy will not take a similar course; becoming a mere leisuretime-occupation with the hope to be still accepted as an art, while typographic design is the pacesetter for development of forms and concepts for letters, script, and text.
I am sure this will be spared to arabic calligraphy, because the artistic development after the second world war has got ahead of the european. I merely mention Hassan Massaoudy.
So, I do not think there is any real danger of vanishing or becoming unimported for arabic calligraphy. I rather expect a concentration on some particular applications and an artistic advancement.
Greetings, Andrea

This is all very fascinating. Hello Pascal you have started an important topic. Marhaba Aziz I missed your flowers on Fontphile and you certainly deserve a much better computer and software. Hello Milo I heard your name a lot before I actually understood what you have actually achieved. Congratulations Tasmeem is amazing.

One way to answer worries that this software will replace calligraphers is to provide untraditional fonts – in the sense of their being new variations of modern lettering styles. In my life as an artist I have developed one or two such styles and I think they could be adapted to Tasmeem technology.

Having said that I am wary of the trend Arabic ‘modern’ fonts are taking- for example having as a model the imitation of Latin letterforms. That is the wrong approach – Arabic is an incredibly supple script and can adapt itself to unique and beautiful new forms. Creativity and a critical eye are needed because not everything new will be good- it has to follow the spirit of traditional calligraphy.

Sorry, not Andrea – the thought of it – but Fernando: you can now embellish your vain physical incarnation with Naskh.

t

Hello Thomas I could see by the examples that simple glyphs can be used with Tasmeem – does that mean that Tasmeem provides ‘automatic’ kerning? that would be nice. What is the Tasmeem Tsuname Project? All the best.

I have added the following comment about Tasmeem on the khtt website. I think the original post’s criticism of the system is based on a misunderstanding of its true value.

http://www.khtt.net/article-1005-en.html?forum_start=n4583#4583

MirEmad of :
http://www.Maryamsoft.com
Or Iranian Tasmeem?!
Flowers for All.

Here is a topic worth watching:
http://typophile.com/node/46166
All the best with Flowers

best very best

clock her

i will just have to add to all, that this site is really important and i take such pride for the work lebanese designers are doing all over the world.

i just want to ask about more details of Mr. Hadad shop’s address. though i am in Bahrain but i would love to meet a true calligrapher soon.

and for my opinion and from a personal experience, i say that the authenticity of the craftsmanship of the calligrapher has its own spirit that me myself don’t want to replace…

Hello, just a quick question, whats the translation for text on the link on post 40?

Thanks!

ana bingung, pengen download banyak font arab yang bagus-bagus tapi kaga ngerti sebab banyak perintah download yang terlalu panjang….

Salam,
I hope this software launched at 2007 will increase popularity Arabic Calligraphy and will enhance the quality calligraphy as well.
Good luck.

I am looking for someone who can help me put some calligraphy on a car. It’s a personal car so no logos, just words.

I want to put a very creative Arabic typography design saying: ‘Mashallah’ on both sides of my car. One side in Arabic and the other side in English.

Can you let me know if you can help or refer me to someone who can.
Thanks

arabi calligraphy software

Arabic calligraphy is at the heart of the Arabic world and truly a different world to Arabic typesetting. I will be very happy to help any one in any project will need to the Arabic touch.

http://www.talaat.me

If you need to have some pictures made, then why not the absolute best work done? You need to preserve those precious memories.

To Thomas Milo, I am interested to buy Tasmeem. Are you distributing this program in the USA, where is available? Who can buy it and where? What are the system requirements? Can I download a trial version of the program?

thanks for the information … BTW how to use the software

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